ТЕОРІЯ І ПРАКТИКА ПЕРЕКЛАДУ 26 страница

not be more final.» 26. «The public are not slow in the matter of sifting

evidence and arriving at a verdict.» 26. «Don't you think you might be

able to use me when you get back?» 27. «I dislike these bastards».

(Hemingway) 28. Frank Cowperwood cared nothing for books. (Dreiser)

STYLISTICALLY/SUBJECTIVELY PREDETERMINED TRANSFORMATIONS

In many a case transformations of sense units are performed for the sake of achieving a fuller expressiveness. Thus, in the sentence «JjMiernernber you are working for Doctor Page.» (Cronin) the underlined part may have two semantically equivalent variants: 1. «Ib ж пам'ятайте», що ви працюєте на лікаря Пеіджа» or «He забувайте. що ви працюєте на лікаря Пеіджа». The second variant, however, is somewhat stronger since it implies threat. To achieve more expressiveness, the translator may change the outer and inner form of the sense unit in the target language, as in the sentence «We have stacked piles of brickbats under the corners of the piano box to keep the floor QLit dry.» (Caldwell) 1. Щоб утримувати підлогу сухою, ми попідкладали битої цегли під кути ящика з-під піаніно; 2. Щоб не затікала вода, ми попідкладали битої цегли під кути ящика з-під піаніно.

Stylistically/subjectively predetermined is always the choice of the inner (content) form of a sense unit in the target language. Cf.: I feel well. (Hemingway) Я почуваюся непогано (добре). A shell fell close. (Ibid.) Неподалік/поруч вибухнув снаряд. Consequently, any transformation is aimed at a more exact (and more faithful) rendering of the source language units into the target language.

Exercise II. Suggest for the underlined parts of the sentences subjectively/stylistically or semantically predetermined outer/inner transformations and translate the sentences into Ukrainian.

1. «For she scarcely took her eyes from the ground and she was timid and afraid.» 2. «Priest wants us never to attack.» 3. «I dislike these bastards.» 4. «He was rude, to say the least of it.» (Christie) 5. Four men in their shirt-sleeves stood grouped together on the garden path. (Mansfield) 6.1 told her to keep away this morning. (Greene) 7. They spoke little and much of what they said was in the Welsh tongue. 8. Indeed she was so eager to make much of him she could barely frame a word. (Cronin) 9. His voice was final and Erik could see that he was exerting his authority. 10. «What difference does it make ?» «It makes all the difference in the word». 11. Haviland had overlooked the presentation of his name. 12. He met Erik's silent question without coloring but he smiled. 13. «Was that all he said?». 14. «The lab is still open, isn't it?». (M.Wilson) 15. «Wait till you see.» 16. «But if nobody spoke unless he had something to say. Roman race would soon lose the use of speech." (Dreiser)

17. «Eat till you can just stagger across the room with it.» (S.Leacock)

18. «You can stay there until you're old enough to go away.» (Saroyan)

19. « I wish I had known it was your friend.» (Wilde) 20. «I fed well.»

(Hemingway) 21. «You better stop pushing.» (Maugham) 22. «You

came out of Court with clean hands.» (Galsworthy) 23. «Keep your

head.» Blound insisted soothingly. 24. «He hated her and could not

get along with her.» 25. The little shop girl was getting into deep water.

(Dreiser) 26. It was the first time he had given way to anger with her.

(Galsworthy)

WAYS OF CONVEYING THE PASSIVE VOICE CONSTRUCTIONS

It is common knowledge that the quantitative representation of the passive voice constructions in English by far exceeds that in Ukrainian. This is not reflected, naturally, in translation since En-

glish passive constructions are far from always transplanted to Ukrainian sentences. The much larger quantity of passive constructions in English is explained 1). by the ability of not only the direct but also of the indirect and prepositional objects to perform the function of the subject to the predicate in the passive voice; 2). by the ability of several intransitive verbs to become transitive and take a direct object, and consequently form the passive voice (cf. Her dog is often walked by her brother. The office is run by Mr.Brown). No transpositions of such type are possible in Ukrainian where only the direct object can be transformed into the subject of the sentence in the passive voice. Nevertheless, the meaning of the passive voice may sometimes be maintained, though expressed then not with the help of the analytical means. This can be seen from the following English sentence:

He was offered a better job of Йому кимсь пропонувалась

some sort of somebody or other, нібито якась навіть краща

(Saroyan) робота.

Parallel to this Ukrainian version and less common or less faithful is one more version and way via the active form of the verbal predicate: йому буцімто хтось пропонував кращу роботу or: йому нібито десь пропонували кращу роботу. A similar expression is also possible in English: some sort of somebody offered him a better job, which the author (Saroyan) ignored in his sentence above.

Some ways of expressing the passive voice in both languages may coincide in form and structure, as can be seen in the first sentence below; others should be transformed (as in the second sentence), in der other to achieve faithfulness in translation:

She was faintly disturbed by Вона була дещо

what mother had said, стурбована тим, що сказала

(Maugham) їїмати.

If the U.N. peace plan is Якщо план мирного

implemented, frozen Serb assets врегулювання ООН буде

in the USA would be released, здійснений, заморожені рахунки

(USA Today) Сербії у США... будуть відпущені.

The passive constructions in the above sentences, however, may not necessarily be rendered into Ukrainian through passive equivalents only. Other contextual variants may also be suggested by the translator, for example: вона була трохи стурбована - її трохи турбувало, рахунки будуть відпущені - рахунки

розморозять/відпустять.

Nevertheless, English passive forms referring to present tense have mostly no structural equivalents in Ukrainian where the auxiliary verb to be (є) is usually omitted and the past participle acquires other morphological (e.g., finite form) and semantic expression. Cf.:

Rescue efforts are being ham- Рятувальним роботам

pered by dozens of aftershocks, перешкоджають повторні

below-freezing temperatures, поштовхи і температура, що

(Ibid.) падає нижче нуля.

One more faithful Ukrainian transformation of this passive sentence construction may be achieved by way of conveying it through the so-called middle voice form ог-ся/-сь verb: Рятувальні роботи утруднюються повторними підземними поштовхами і температурою, що падає нижче нуля.

Depending on the form of the passive construction and still more on the lexical verbal meaning, this voice form may have in Ukrainian some still other transformations, which express the same meaning of the passive construction; they may acquire the following outer forms of expression in Ukrainian:

a) that of an indefinite personal sentence/clause:

«I am told that pork-packing Кажуть, що в Америці

is the most luckrative profession пакування свинини - найбільш

after politics in America.» прибуткова праця після

(О. Wilde) політики.

b) that of a single predicative word/simple nominal predicate:

«They'reprepared to sacrifice «Вониладні пожертвувати

everything to satisfy their yearn- всім, аби задовольнити/

ing.» (Maugham) здійснити своє прагнення.»

c) a finite form of the verb/simple verbal predicate:

He has never been answered. Його ще ніхто і ніколи не

(B.Aidiss) спростував.

d) an indefinite personal past participle ending in -но/ -то:

It is a sound instinct of the Це здоровий глузд

common people which per- простого люду переконує

suades that this all, that needs його, таким чином, що все те,

to be said, is said. (Maugham) що треба сказати. - сказано.

The room had certainly been У кімнаті безперечно

transformed. (I.Murdoch) зроблено перестановку.

e) any other contextual and structural substitution of the English passive voice predicate verb:

«I must be left to myself for а «Я повинен якийсь час

while.» (Hemingway) побути сам/самим із собою.»

«If Isabel had come in then, І «Якби Ізабель була зайшла

suppose I'd be married to Larry тоді, мабуть зараз я була б

now.» (Maugham) замужем за Пері.»

The passive structure sense units of both the English sentences, as can be seen, are practically translated into Ukrainian irt a descriptive way, i.e., avoiding their source language outer structure. Nevertheless grammatically correct, though literal and stylistically not quite appropriate or justified, would also be passive variant constructions in Ukrainian: 1). Я мусив бути залишений самим; 2). Я була б замужем/була б одружена з Лері.

Not infrequently the Ukrainian past participle in its predicative function may be one, if not the only possible passive form equivalent of the English passive construction in Ukrainian, as in the following sentence:

«Their children slept, their «'(хні діти спали, і (їхня)

gate was shut for the night.» брама була зачинена на ніч.»

(Fitzgerald) (І браму зачинили на ніч?)

The passive voice constructions with the prepositional object as their subject have generally no equivalent passive constructions in Ukrainian. These are rendered then with the help of the indefinite personal forms of the verb (sometimes through reflexive verbs):

«Why do you not answer «Чому ви не відповідаєте, when you are spoken to?» коли до вас звертаються?» (Galsworthy)

I may say, that he is rightly я можу сказати, що у

looked upon by all the publishing видавничих колах його

business as one of the mainstays справедливо вважають однією

of literature in America. 3 головних постатей в

(Leacock) американській літературі.

Consequently, some English passive voice constructions often change their outer and inner form and become active voice forms in Ukrainian. The main concern of the translator, in this case then,

must be not so much the structural form of a source language sense unit, than its contextual meaning and, respectively, its form of realization/presentation in the target language.

Exercise I. Offer possible Ukrainian non-passive transforms/outer forms for the English passive voice constructions and translate the sentences into Ukrainian.

1. He was haunted by a fear. 2. Also he was rendered self-conscious by the company. (London) 3. It (furniture) was given to us as a wedding present by Mr. Bradley's father. 4. They entertained lavishly and were lavishly entertained. 5. Gregory Brabazov was in Chicago at the time the purchase was made and the decoration (of the house) was entrusted to him. 6. I had recently brought out a successful novel - and I had no sooner arrived than I was interviewed. 7. There are men who are possessed by an urge so strong to do some particular thing that they can't help themselves. 8. He was so incommunicable that I was forced to the conclusion that he had asked me to lunch with him merely to enjoy my company. 9. But here she encountered in her husband an obstinacy, which she had not for years been accustomed to. 10. She was puzzled by Isabel. 11. «I'm told she's rather good.» (Maugham) 12. She might have been asked to go too. 13. What luck that the boy had not been caught by that ghastly war. He might so easily have been killed, like poor Jolly twenty years ago out in the Transvaal. (Galsworthy) 14. «I'm afraid a lot of your private papers were burned.» (Leacock) 15. And when the Indian veteran came there, he was told the blunt truth. (D.Carter) 16. «I suppose in about a fortnight we shall be told that he has been seen in San Francisco.» (Wilde) 17. Immediately after their marriage Couperwood and Aileen journeyed to Chicago direct and they were given there the best room that Frencout provided for the time being. 18. Caroline, or Sister Carry - was possessed of a mind rudimentary in its power of observation and analysis. 19. In certain emergencies he was called to assist his father, and was paid for it. (Dreiser) 20. - only after a minute did she realize that she had been awakened by a knock at their saloon door. (Fitzgerald) 21. People have been asking those questions for thousands of years and they could be answered, surely they'd have been answered, by now. (Maugham) 22. «We've been sort of pals and it's not my business to talk unless I'm spoken to.» (J.K. Jerome) 23. Clovis was sent for in haste, and the development of the situation was put before him. (H.Munro) 24. We were ques-

tioned, all of us. (Defoe) 25. The door was opened by a tall and stout Negro butler with white hair and we were ushered into the drawing-room. 26. Most of the actors wanted to think Logan was crying because he was being arrested. (L.Hughes) 27. «I am urgently needed at Apia,» said Dr. Macphail. 28. «Young Bossiney has been run over in the fog and killed.» 29. «Water was given her.» (Galsworthy) 30. He was beaten. 31.1 was surprised that I had been asked to this party. 32. The two persons, who were hustled away, did not take it well. 33. They were made for the third Duke of Dorset and they're almost priceless. 34. She was a trifle taken aback that it had all gone so easily. 35 . «I presume that in a day or two we shall be fixed up for the rest of the season.» (Maugham) 36. «I was desired by that gentleman to identify the wearer of a very uncommon coat - a bright blue dress coat, with a gilt button, displaying a bust, and the letters «P.C.» (Dickens) 37. «Was Coleman being told here and now, as a newcomer, not to rock the boat?»1 (Hailey) 38. «Mr. Afghan North was robbed and he made a complaint.» 39. «The car had been built on a special chassis in America.» (Fitzgerald) 40. She was received only by Ting-a-Ling, who had his back to the fire, and took no notice beyond a stare. (Galsworthy) 41.1 was wired for. (C.Doyle) 42. Some things had been lost sight of. (Galsworthy) 43. The bed had not even been lain on. (Dickens) 44. She was told that a message could be left for him. (M.Wilson) 45. Do not pass judgement, that you may not be judged. 46. You either make both tree and fruit to be rotten; for the tree is known by its fruit. (Bible). 47. She hastened around to the side entrance and was taken up by the elevator to the fourth floor. (Dreiser) 48. «Not a word of it, in my interpretation, is actually spoken.» (S. Leacock) 49. «They're not the sort of people I've been brought up with.» 50. Isabel appeared to be delighted and Mrs. Bradley was reassured. 51. She was rather pretty and I was rather taken with her. 52. Face and neck were deeply burnt by the sun. (Maugham). 53. «Sophia, I'm not going to be talked to like this.» (Bennett) 54. One leg was gone and the other was held by tendons and part of the trousers and the stump twitched and jerked as though it were not connected. (Hemingway) 55. His coming had not been looked for. (Greene) 56. He was given up to his dream. (K.Mansfield) 57.1 was wanted in the dining-room. (Bronte)

1 to rock the boat (coll.) підривати авторитет установи.

OBJECTIVELY REQUIRED AND SUBJECTIVELY

INTRODUCED/CONTEXTUAL TRANSFORMATIONS

OF LANGUAGE UNITS

As has been shown, there may be two types of transformations resorted to in the process of translation: 1. objectively required/ conditioned by the peculiarities of the target language, i.e., inevitable, and 2. subjectively introduced at the translator's own will and therefore not always unavoidable. Either of them requires structural/ outer alterations of the source language units in the target language. Moreover, each type of these transformations may be realized both on the syntactic as well as on the lexical level units. Cf. His holidays had been spent at Robin Hill with boy friends, or with his parents. (Galsworthy) - канікули він проводив у Робін Плі з товаришами чи з батьками. Here the passive voice syntaxeme had been spent must have been changed in Ukrainian into the active voice form. Objectively predetermined are also transformations of the objective with the infinitive or participle constructions/complexes, gerundial and nominative absolute participial constructions, national idioms, etc. In these cases a simple English sentence may turn into a complex sentence. Cf.:

«It (music) seems to be right «Здається, ніби музика в

in them.» (D.Parker) них просто в крові».

« When do you want me to do «Коли ви хочете, щоб я це

it?» (Maugham) зробив?»

The outer form/structure of the language unit may be deliberately changed in the target language, when it requires a concretiza-tion. As a result, the structure of the sense unit is often extended or shortened in the target language without changing its proper meaning. For example, the personal pronoun ft and the auxiliary verb do. when concretized in the Ukrainian translation may be substituted for a noun phrase and an objective word-group:

«Why did you do it?» the/she- «Ти навіщо підпалив

riff said. «I didn't do it,» Johnny будинок?» - запитав шериф. -

said. (Saroyan) «я не підпалював його.» -

відповів Джонні.

The predicative word-groups підпалив будинок and його не підпалював become necessary in Ukrainian in order to explicate

properly the meaning of the verb do and the pronoun it, which can be achieved only in a descriptive way, i.e., through transformation.

Also semantically and stylistically predetermined are all translator's transformations through addition, which are resorted to with the aim of achieving the necessary expressiveness. Additions become necessary in the target language either in order to express more clearly the content of the source language unit, or for the sake of achieving some stylistic effect. Cf.:

When a girl leaves her home Коли дівчина залишає

at eighteen. she does one of two домівку у вісімнадцять років, з

things - (Dreiser) нею трапляється одне з двох...

«I'm so glad you've asked me, «Я дуже радий, що ти мене

darling.» (Maugham) запитала про це. люба.»

The additions made in the first and in the second Ukrainian sentences are both lexical and syntactic, since the first of them completes the sentence through the formation of the attributive word-group (вісімнадцять років), and the second complements the objective verb and forms an objective word-group, which completes the object clause and the sentence as a whole (що ти мене запитала про це).

A semantic or syntactic addition used with the aim of concreti-zation may become necessary in the target language in order to maintain the peculiar way of expression or to complete the structure of the sense unit in the language of translation. For example:

There was just enough room У ящикові було місце лише для

for us two in the crate, and if the нас двох, і якщо бананова

straw was not evenly strewn, it підстилка не була рівномірно

made lumps under our backs, розгорнута, вона збивалася в

(Caldwell) жмутки і муляла нам у боки.

The objective word-group муляла нам у боки is a semantically stable expression in Ukrainian and it can not exist without the verb муляти, which functions as its syntactic head. Similar additions for the sake of concretization become inevitable in the target language when dealing with local place names and specifically national notions of the source language. For example:

Він мешкає у Києві на Подолі, а працює там на Сирці.

Не lives in the Podil district of Kyiv and works there in the Syrets' residential area of the city.

There is no mention in the В офіційній інструкції мініс-

Home Office list of any such in- терства внутрішніх справ і

dustrial desease. (Cronin) згадки нема про таке професій-

не захворювання (шахтарів).

The Home Office (list) has been concretized by way of an explicatory translation, i.e., by adding the word (noun) міністерство which is contextually required in the Ukrainian translation.

Often occurring among various translators' transformations are also omissions, which may be of two types: a) objectively required, i.e., inevitable and b) casual or subjectively introduced. The former are conditioned by the grammar phenomena which are not available in the target language. Thus, objectively omitted are auxiliary verbs, determining articles or pronouns (cf. he has his hands in his pockets він тримає руки в кишенях), individual barbarisms, as in the sentence below:

«Oh, I like them. I really do.» «О, вони подобаються мені.

(D.Parker) Справді.»

«Goodness, I'm so crazy «Боже мій, я у такій

about music and everything. І нестямі від музики, що мені

don't care what colour he is.» байдуже, якого він (артист)

(Ibid.) кольору.»

Here the sentence "I really do." is reduced to one-word sentence "Справді." The word «everything» in the second sentence is a barbarism of a character in the story, which the translator found obsolete, of no need to transplant it to the Ukrainian translation of this sentence.

Very often, however, a sense unit may be omitted in the language of translation for stylistic reasons, when it is necessary, for example, to avoid a repeated use of the same sense unit in adjacent sentences, as in the following sentence:

She turned aghast towards Вона з жахом/приголомшена

the bed. (Salinger) обернулась.

Since the noun bed was already mentioned in the preceding sentence of the passage, the translator found it necessary to omit it in the Ukrainian version, which could not be made, naturally, if the sentence were singled out (separated) from the text and translated as a separate language unit.

Casual subjective omissions of this kind usually do not change the general content of the sentence/passage, though they may alter

to some extent the author's emphasis made in the sentence of the source language, as can be seen in the following translation:

/ was learning fast, but І Я навчалася швидко, але не

learned not fast enough to real- настільки швидко, щоб

ize then the peril of our position, усвідомити, яка над нами

(London) нависла загроза.

The omitted adverbial modifier then in the Ukrainian translation changes the temporal emphasis of the author in his original version of the sentence where he pointed out the time («then») of «the peril».

A somewhat similar (and also deliberate) omission of the adverbial modifier, though for the sake of achieving faithfulness, can be observed in the Ukrainian sentence below:

Tamales are very good Tамали (товчена кукурудза

when the air grows chilly at з м'ясом) - дуже добра річ,

night. (Ibid) надто (...) коли ночі бувають

холодні.

The translator (O.Senyuk) found the specifying adverbial modifier at night not explicatory enough for the Ukrainian reader or stylistically aggravating for the structure of the target language sentence. This way of economizing the lexical means on account of the original content could not, naturally, be justified, as the content of the Ukrainian version would be simplified. To avoid it, the translator employed an extension (коли бувають холодні ночі). Hence, the deliberate omission of the part of the sentence (at night) was made for the sake of achieving a more exhaustive faithful rendering of this English sentence. Reduction is often employed for stylistic reasons, especially in translations of belles-letters texts, when there exists an incompatibility between the structural forms of the syntactic units of the source language and their semantic and structural equivalents in the target language. The forms of reduction depend on the peculiarity of the language units under translation, on the means of expression or units to be reduced, and sometimes on the aims persued by the reduction1 . The most often occurring reductions are the following:

The objective verbal word-group «gave him a little smile» may also be transformed in Ukrainian into other word-groups: 1) (вона) окинула його грайливою посмішкою 2) (вона) подарувала йому грайливу посмішку. Each of these two variants, naturally, would be quite acceptable, but the translator avoided them as stylistically and semantically less fitting in this particular sentence.

Shortening of syntactic units in the target language is often conditioned by the stylistic aim of individualizing the speech of some literary character as in the sentences below:

«What politics have you?» І «Ви за кого?» - запитав я.

asked, «lam without politics.» he «Я ні за кого.» - відповів

said. (Hemingway) старий чоловік.

Instead of the direct translation of the underlined English sentences «Яких політичних поглядів ви дотримуєтесь» and «Я ніяких політичних поглядів не дотримуюсь» the translator used a more natural for the old and seemingly uneducated shepherd, a shortened and an elliptical sentence characteristic of colloquial Ukrainian :»Ви за кого?" and logically natural «Я ні за кого».

2) Transformation of an English complex sentence into a simple

one in the target language because of the structural incompatibility

of the former in the Ukrainian language:

«That's what I say.» she said. «Оце така моя думка.» -

« That's the way I feel.» she said, сказала вона. «Отак я ставлюсь

(D. Parker) до цього,» - підсумувала вона.

The first complex sentence with its predicative clause and the second complex sentence with its attributive clause have both been transformed into simple extended Ukrainian sentences and thus changed their outer structure and syntactic nature («Оце така моя думка,» «Отак я ставлюсь до цього», «Це так я ставлюсь до цього»).

3) Merger of two separate sentences into one composite sen

tence in the target language. This type of reduction may be required

by the content, as well as by the national Ukrainian way of expres

sion (and by the style of the text). For example:

1. Every once in a while Dave (1) Раз по раз Дейв ставав

got on his hands and knees and навколішки і розрівнював

turned the straw over. 2. It was руками (2) бананову

the banana straw, and it was підстилку, яка була сира

soggy and foul-smelling, (відсиріла), і від якої неприємно

(Caldwell) тхнуло.

It is easy to assert that each sentence in the source language is semantically and syntactically highly relevant. Nevertheless, only the first sentence can be completely transplanted to Ukrainian: Раз по раз Дейв ставав навколішки і розрівнював підстилку. The second sentence, however, when transplanted unchanged, would be structurally and stylistically irrelevant, i.e., not fit in the style and for the Ukrainian wayof expression in this particular context. Cf.: Це була бананова підстилка, і вона була волога і неприємно тхнула.

То avoid literalism and structural/syntactic awkwardness in Ukrainian, the translator reduced the second sentence or rather changed it into an attributive subordinate clause, which made the Ukrainian variant sound stylistically and semantically quite natural: Дейв розрівнював бананову підстилку, яка була мокра і неприємно тхнула.

One more example of contextual reduction (or extension) of English sentences through their merger in Ukrainian can be seen below. The only difference between this and the above-given sentence lies in the placement of the second English sentence, which in the Ukrainian translation is moved to the front position. This is required by the peculiarities of the Ukrainian way of expression and by the semantic/logical structure of its communicative units. Cf.:

These and the like purely subjective, at first sight, transformations are absolutely necessary in order to achieve a faithful expression of content of the English sentences and maintain the logical flow of thought characteristic of the natural Ukrainian speech. It goes without saying that such kind of transformations through reduction, extension or replacement can not always be treated as deliberate or exclusively subjective, because they are objectively required by the